AKIPRESS.COM - The U.N. Human Rights Council said Monday that it will send a special mission to Iraq to investigate human rights abuses and war crimes allegedly committed by ISIS.

Iraqis have faced violence and unrest for more than a decade, but the situation has gotten worse in recent months as fighters for ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, seized sections of the country, said Flavia Pansieri, the U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights.

"The effect of the ongoing conflict on the children of Iraq has been catastrophic," Pansieri said during an emergency session in Geneva, Switzerland. "Many have become direct victims of the conflict, while others have been subjected to physical and sexual abuse, whose scars may remain with them throughout their lives."

Mosques, shrines and other religious sites have been destroyed, and members of different ethnic and religious groups have been persecuted, she said.

"The international community must intensify its efforts to protect all Iraqis, including ethnic and religious communities and those who are particularly vulnerable," Pansieri said.